


Meanwhile, In Another Universe

by TooManyPsuedonyms



Series: A Pocket Dimension for Villains and Heroes [1]
Category: Villainous (Cartoon)
Genre: AU, B-Day's can be very stressful, Character studies, F/F, Gen, M/M, Multi, One-Shot, Part Family Drama, Part Sadness, there is so much dialogue, you know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 08:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18384479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooManyPsuedonyms/pseuds/TooManyPsuedonyms
Summary: Stories have to start somewhere--and here is where a Heroic AU started to simmer.Character studies for a beloved fandom AU when Clem turns 16, meaning Slug is full of angst, and White Hat is oblivious as always.





	Meanwhile, In Another Universe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If anyone enjoyed my Black Heat and White Lies chapter fic, I hope those same anyone's would like to see some of the character studies I did before I delved into *that* super involved fic. 
> 
> So. Here was the literal first incarnation of what would eventually influence my now completed fic. 
> 
> Please enjoy.

"What day is it?" Dr. Slug asked as dragged himself into the kitchen like, well, like a slug. He looked haggard.

 

“The seventh, dear," White Hat glanced up from his newspaper to answer to smile beautifully, but Dr. Slug made some sort of noise like a walrus on land looking for a mate. White Hat tilted his head curiously at the response.

 

Slug simply shook his head in a non-verbal answer, taking off the bag to stick his head into a sack of coffee beans and breathing deeply.

 

"Yeah... That's not weird."

 

"Shhhhslup, yabaaatard ha," came the response from the beans.

 

"Well, I suppose caffeine is good for the skin," White Hat mused. It earned him a sarcastic laugh from the bag of coffee beans. The Elder Being stood and he walked over to the over-tired scientist. As per Slug's now hidden visage, White Hat didn't bother pulling the man out of the fair-trade coffee bean bag set on the counter. "I can always make you a cup if you need?"

 

The doctor held a thumbs up and White Hat went to scooping out a generous amount. He turned around, listening contently to the sounds of Slug sitting up and coming back to his usual put-togetherness. "How long have you been down in the lab?"

 

"If today is the seventh... two weeks?" came the answer after a mathematical pause.

 

White Hat did a double take with growing concern, saying, "We went to a see my brother last week. Don't you remember?"

 

Dr. Slug paused again in thought. "You might have had a test run of my decoy bot--I call it Chameel, ya know, like a chameleon," he admitted. White Hat stared in wonder for a second, then startled as the coffee machine beeped irately at him. "So, we have a new working model for robotic inventions. We could send it in for high risk situations—ransoms, bait, assassination flushing..."

 

"As splendid as that is," White Hate interrupted the doctor's train of thought, "Why were you in the lab for two weeks?" Dr. Slug stopped immediately. Although his face was hidden by his paper bag, he still looked away in embarrassment. White Hat waited patiently, picking up a coffee mug and pouring it straight black for his good doctor. He handed it over gently.

 

"Well, you know," Slug mumbled, bringing the mug to his lips.

 

"I am afraid I don't understand...?"

 

Slug sighed and set the cup down carefully, "Clementia's birthday is this weekend..."

 

White Hat perked up, leaning against the counter excitedly. "Really?! A birthday?" "Yeah... I was working on her present..." White Hat laughed, joy apparent as he straightened, "I should bake a cake!"

 

"Please, don't," Slug intoned, queasy, remembering the last time White Hat attempted dinner. White Hat pouted but didn't really argue. He had to ask his brother to send his food creation into the void... Jell-O really should not gain sentience...

 

Both shuddered, lost in thoughts, only to have Clementia ride in on 0.5.0. "Guys! Guys! Look what I taught Cero—" she chirped, hopping down.

 

White Hat turned around, smiling. "I am not making you cake!" he declared proudly.

 

Clem paused, mid presentation, before giving him two thumbs up. "Good idea!"

 

"You can thank Dr. Slug!"

 

"Again," Dr. Slug sighed, acting put upon as he grabbed his coffee, "Please, don't."

 

Clem nodded, and then proceeded to show the other two members of the house hold how 0.5.0. could now "fetch.” The monstrous creation managed to knock down half the manor in demonstration and Slug rubbed his face over the paper bag, while Clem gave an anxious giggle. White Hat just hovered in the air in an opaque bubble of protection, looking bemused. "Um... I'll clean it up?"

 

 . . .

 

Clementia knocked on White Hat's door come Saturday night. The manor was spotless, and the young girl was wearing a sparkly pink tutu with her unicorn hoodie fashioned to her rainbow-colored head. "Um, Sir?" she asked.

 

White Hat looked up from his paperwork. "Hello birthday girl!" he greeted, "Did you like your cake? I ordered it from the bakery. Our good doctor insisted on Clementine’s—Vitamin C is good for a growing body."

 

Clem blushed and brushed her tutu down. "Uh-huh... I was, well, I was texting Dem—"

 

"Oh, yes, my brother's um..." White Hat paused, thinking of the proper descriptor and fell short. Clementia gave a laugh. She waved her hands in that universal gesture of _it's okay, we all know she’s a weird-o._

 

"Yeah, well! She invited me out... and I was wondering if you would drive me over to Black Hat Manor?" she asked, hopeful. White Hat pushed his chair back, walking over to the coatrack genially.

 

"Why, of course! Should we invite our dear doctor on this outing?" he suggested.

 

Clem toed the carpet, surreptitiously looking around. "Oh, I dunno, I don't think—"

 

"Don't think what, Clem?" Dr. Slug, like the devil himself, seemed to materialize behind the teen girl. She gave a surprised squeak and scuttled off to the side.

 

"Nothing! Nothing! Not a thing!" she said, then, looped her arms into White Hat's, trying to drag him past the doctor, "It's just an errand! No need to interfere with your important work!"

 

White Hat gazed quizzically down at the girl. "Oh, Clementia, sweetheart! It won't bother Dr. Slug!"

 

"Uhhhh, Mr. White Hat, sir, no it's not—"

 

"We're heading to Black Hat Manor! Dementia invited our dear girl out for her birthday," White Hat explained with a smile.

 

"... a big... deal..." Clem quieted down, gazing up through heavily pink mascaraed lashes. Slug turned to her with arms dangerously crossing. She refused to look him in the eye.

 

"No."

 

"Oh, you don't want to go, Doctor?" White Hat asked, a bit surprised. He made such a big deal about her birthday just a few days prior.

 

"I mean, no, as in," the doctor began, voice grown heated in a way White Hat hadn't heard in a long while, "No. She's not going out."

 

"But _Slug_ —!" Clem started.

 

"I told you no, Clementia."

 

White Hat suddenly felt all his warning signals go off. He felt the urge go into peace keeper mode, though he couldn't fully understand why. It was just instinctual. "Uh, doctor, I don't see why--"

 

"She's my friend, Slug!" Clementia yelled, pearly tears gathering, "I don't understand why you won't let me go hang out with her outside of those stupid meetings!"

 

"Well then, maybe we shouldn't even take you to the meet—"

 

"She's nice, Slug!"

 

"She's part Komodo dragon!"

 

"Ugh! You're so speciesist!"

 

"No, Clem, you're not going! Don't try to blame this on gene splicing!"

 

"We made a mess that one time—"

 

"She tried to drill a narwhal horn into skull—"

 

"Only because I asked!"

 

"What?! _Why_ would you _ask_ that?!"

 

"UNICORNS, SLUG!"

 

"Why are we yelling? Can't we just talk this out responsibly?" White Hat tried to edge in.

 

Slug was quick to point a damning finger at him, "Don't make me start with you! You're suppose to be a protector—"

 

"What's he gonna protect me from, Slug?! Fun?! Friendship?!" Clementia started stomping.

 

"Apparently not!" Dr. Slug huffed, throwing his hands in the air in frustration.

 

Clem scowled and looked away, face tightening in anger. "C'mon, Dem said she got the night off to party with me..." she tried to follow White Hat's advice. Slug sighed, gazing at her with resolve. She was being reasonable, appeal to logic, the heart strings, kind of thing. "Please, Slug? Please. It's my sweet sixteen and I wanna spend it with a friend... don't you trust me?"

 

"I..." Slug shook his head, "I said no, Clem. It's not about _you_ —"

 

"Are you serious?!" the young girl exploded, she pulled down her hoodie and tearing at her hair.

 

"Clem—"

 

"No! _No!"_ she cried out, "You can't just—just tell me _no_! You're _not_ my father!" Dr. Slug froze, but Clementia kept going, "I am _not_ your kid! You can't keep me locked up here! I'm not some Disney Princess! I—I—"

 

White Hat grasped the girl's arms as they wildly flung. He shushed her as she collapsed to her knees, running out of steam. "Please...? C'mon... say yes. Please? It's okay, right?"

 

Dr. Slug wouldn't look at her. He looked ahead, before brushing past both Clem, starting to sob on the floor, and the elder being bending down to comfort her. "She doesn't leave the manor, White Hat..." Clementia pushed upwards, running at Dr. Slug. She beat at his back weakly, and he stopped, letting her attack him.

 

"I hate you! I hate you! I h-hate youuuuu...!" she began, hiccupping.

 

Slug sighed, waiting until she grew tired again. White Hat did know what to do, but Slug barely nodded looked at either them, whispering, mostly to himself, "And that's okay..."

 

 . . .

 

Clem was tucked into bed, 0.5.0. curled up on the floor, snuffling and grumbling past his muzzle. White Hat contemplated giving it a pat on the head but decided to leave the two of them undisturbed. Today did not quite live up to expectations. White Hat ended up contacting his brother, sighing into their otherworldly oracle orbs. "Did you give Dementia the night off?"

 

"Dementia... doesn't have a schedule," Black Hat answered, skipping pleasantries. The dark twin was floating aloof in his pocket dimension. "Why are you calling me?"

 

"Well, it's my girl, Clem. Her birthday was today," he said.

 

"... fun?"

 

"No."

 

"Ah."

 

"Brotheeeeeeer," the Elder Being whined and Black Hat rolled his eyes, "What do you do when your employees fight?"

 

"Mostly threaten them with violence and mental anguish," he answered, sharpening his claws bored by the conversation.

 

"Yeah... that probably won't work for me. Dr. Slug would hit me in the face with a death ray, I'm sure."

 

"Sucks to be you," Black Hat said before cackling, "Though it might make you less ugly!"

 

"We look the same, brother."

 

_"Ugh!_ Please, don't insult me."

 

"Black Hat, I am at a loss! I don't understand what happened!" White Hat continued his whining, "One moment everything was fine and the next, Dr. Slug is saying Clementia shouldn't be friends with Dementia!"

 

"Well, hate to say this, _brother mine_ ," Black Hat said, with a bit of mockery that made White Hat somewhat pleased in irony, "But I have to agree with Slug on this one."

 

"That seems rude..." White Hat muttered to himself.

 

Black Hat shrugged in response, "Dementia isn't the most responsible—and last I checked your girl is still fully human. Humans are... squishable."

 

"Yes, a bit fragile," White Hat agreed. Black Hat stretched in his pocket dimension.

 

"In more ways than physical, too," he offered. White Hat blinked, he sat back, a bit embarrassed by his slow mind as Black Hat darkly inquired, "How old was your Dr. Slug's larva again? I mean, should she have survived...?"

 

"I—uh," White Hat was startled as he waved at his orb, "Thank you, brother, I have to go see to my doctor."

 

"Call me unannounced again and I'll set fire to your mansion!" was the dismissal.

 

White Hat frowned, "That’s not funny."

 

"Well, I am not joking."

 

"Right, evil villain, BYE FOR NOW! I'll call you tomorrow so you know how it turns out!"

 

"Please, don—" Black Hat groaned before his good twin cut off the magic communication system and ran out of the room.

 

 . . .

 

Slug was tapping at his "secret" ant farm. Clem had been feeding them again, if all the sugar crumbs were anything to go by. "You guys are getting fat and lazy..." he sighed. Then, was surprised into sitting up when he heard the lab doors open.

 

"Dr. Slug!"

 

"Good evening, White Hat," he called. The elder being gave him a soft look. Slug tsked, standing with his ant farm. He jerkily moved it under his arm with an awkward type of grace. "What do you need—"

 

"How old was she?" Slug startled, looking at White Hat like a dear caught in headlights.

 

He looked away, "I don't... I can't believe you would ask that."

 

"I... I checked with Black Hat. Dementia didn't... well she doesn't have a schedule?" he offered instead, "You know. If that makes you feel better?" Slug just groaned, he set his ant farm back down on the work table in front of him. "Ohhh, I guess it doesn't allocate any fears about Clem and Dementia's friendship...?" 

 

Slug chuckled, bring his hands up under his bag. He shucked it off, ruffling the dark, sparse hair underneath. The scars from the fire were shiny, stripped against a majority of the left side of his face. Whenever White Hat wasn't beside him, it ached fiercely. He turned his mismatched eyes toward White Hat. Ironically blinded in his right eye, while the left was still clear, one was like dark amber sparking in his painful face.

 

"She never made it as far as Clem..." he gulped down the grief. White Hat felt moved, and hadn't realized he grew close to his doctor until he lay a soothing palm against the human's haggard cheek. He brushed a talon-like thumb across the tear tracts Slug hadn't noticed. "My baby girl didn't get to her double digits... I couldn't save her..."

 

"But you could save Clementia," White Hat murmured. Slug didn't say a word, just stared at the elder being, begging him to understand without words. "You can't protect her from everything."

 

Slug rejected White Hat's touch, hissing low and turning away, "How dare _you_ of all people say that to me!"

 

"I am not merely human, Slug," White Hat frustratedly admitted, "So I can't begin to fathom your pain but—" he sighed, holding up his hand again, a helpful plea, "But, I am trying. And, you have to _talk_ to us. Alright?"

 

Slug sighed. He looked at the outstretched hand for a second. Then, reached over, grabbing his ant farm, and pouring the ants out into the open palm. White Hat squawked, flapping his hand in the shock, the tickling sensation of the little critters less surprising than the laughter coming from Dr. Slug.

 

"Wha— _WHY_?!" Dr. Slug hid his face in his hands, tears of mirth leaking from the corners of his eyes, explaining, "They probably shouldn't be locked up..."

 

"Uhhhm?"

 

"Clementia can visit her friend tomorrow," Slug decided. White Hat shook the last of the ants off, distracted by the fierce warning glare the doctor was sending him. He tried to be careful of the insects, but, Slug was continuing his declaration, "Only—and only— _IF_ you shadow the two girls, the _WHOLE_ time White Hat. The whole time, you hear me? If there is one rainbow hair askew on that child's head—"

 

" _Oh_...!"

 

"I'm not done threatening you yet, stop smiling!"

 

"But! It's a cute metaphor—"

 

"Shut the fuck up, White Hat!"

 

"Nothing will happen to her on my watch, Slug. I promise you that..." he swore seriously. The good doctor jumped at the suddenly passionate look on the Elder Being’s face. He pressed a hand to his heart, glancing away quickly, "I love her too, you know."

 

Slug laughed, kneeling on the floor to find his paper bag to hide his overwhelmed emotions in (Flug sure had a spectacular idea with this whole covered face thing), "Ahhh, well, sure. You love everyone..."

 

"Well, maybe I love her like a daughter, too?" White Hat wondered. Slug snorted as he tugged his bag back on his ugly mug.

 

"I dunno, if ya do," he teased.

 

White Hat missed it—as he sometimes did in his naivety of human existence—asserting, "I am pretty sure I do! I've done some fatherly things, I think!"

 

"I could always make you a daughter, then we'd know for sure," Dr. Slug was being playful, but White Hat made a surprised noise. Locking up in place. Slug tilted his head, poking at the immobile being, "I'm not propositioning you, White Hat... it's fine. I believe you."

 

White Hat snapped out of it with a blue colored blush dusting his ethereal features. "I—I knew that."

 

"Of course, sir."

 

"The ants were just... crawling into my slacks."

 

"Sure."

 

"It... felt... weird—"

 

"You don't have to—"

 

"—in my pants..."

 

"—explain..."

 

“…”

 

“…”

 

"I made it weird by explaining."

 

"... you did, sir."

 

"Uh, should I send an apology cake?"

 

"Please don't."

 

"People say that to me a lot."

 

"Yet, you still don't listen."

 

"I'll leave now."

 

"Good ide—"

 

"I promised my brother I'd let him know how this story concluded!" White Hat remembered, awkwardness leaving as he started toward the door in a happy rush.

 

Dr. Slug groaned, calling out, "Again! Please _don't_!"

 

With that, though, Clementia's sweet sixteen birthday weekend had a pleasant—and interestingly chaotically romantic—end. Especially considering White Hat and Slug found Dem sleeping in the teen girls' bed the next morning. But, uh, that's a completely different pairing—er, story.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feel free to ask questions!
> 
> Thanks so much for reading!! 
> 
> <3


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